Pakistan has submitted comments unfavourable to the Greek Cypriot side at the United Nations Security Council, breaking the silence procedure on the draft resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters as he was leaving a meeting of Eurochambers at the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the President was asked to comment on reports of a lack of consensus at the Security Council that led to the vote being postponed until Friday instead of Thursday as originally scheduled.
“What I was informed this morning is that Pakistan has broken the silence procedure under which the resolution had been placed. It has put forward some comments. This is a process that has happened in the past and consultations will continue,” he said.
Asked about the nature of the comments, Christodoulides said it was clear that “from the country I mentioned, the comments are not positive for us”. Pakistan is currently one of the ten non permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Separately, commenting on remarks by the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, that a broader conference on the Cyprus issue would not take place soon, the President said the Greek Cypriot side was ready both for a new trilateral meeting and for an expanded conference during Cyprus’s EU Council Presidency.
“The resumption of talks is the highest priority and it is not affected at all, either in terms of my time or my political will, by the fact that we hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU,” he said.
Christodoulides added that he was already reviewing his schedule and would propose dates to Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman for a bilateral meeting. “My goal is clear. I know very well what my priority is, and it is the resumption of talks,” he said.
Asked whether he had spoken with Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis following the latter’s meeting with the UN Secretary General in New York, the President said Gerapetritis had spoken twice with Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos before that meeting. Due to the time difference, they would speak again later on Thursday so that he could be briefed on the outcome of the discussions.
It is noted that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in 2025, declared his country’s support to the self-styled regime in the north of Cyprus during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
Source: CNA